NEW YORK CITY-Manhattan is getting the one thing it doesn't already offer: a beach.
City Council Speaker and mayoral candidate Christine Quinn, along with Manhattan Borough President and city comptroller candidate Scott Stringer, introduced a plan Thursday to turn an unused parcel of land on the East River in Lower Manhattan into a beach, complete with sand, seating and waterfront views.
The two officials—along with a handful of other local elected and community leaders—kicked off a $8-million plan to create an 11,000-square-foot stretch that will feature sand, terraced seating, a kayak launch, a spot for fishing, tree-lined walkways and concession stands. The spot is close to Wall street as well as the Brooklyn Bridge. The total includes $1 million in funding secured by Council Member Daniel Garodnick for a kayak and canoe launch at Stuyvesant Cove.
Slated to take approximately three years to complete, the project will include the creation of salt marshes just offshore in order to spare the waterfront from the wrath of storms.
“The redevelopment of Brooklyn Bridge Beach will transform an unused and forgotten stretch of waterfront into a premier staycation destination," Quinn said. "New York has always been a city of water, and this project will re-connect us to one of our greatest resources."
However, the spot will be lacking one resource: water suitable for swimming. The East River is too polluted to allow anyone to dive in. The project's orchestrators hope to create wading pools with water captured and cleaned from the runoff from the FDR Drive, but that won't be done right away as it requires additional funding.
Brooklyn Bridge Beach originally was conceived as part of Stringer's Blueway plan, which will create access to the entire Manhattan waterfront, from the tip of northern Manhattan to the foot of Battery Park.
Separately, Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Wednesday issued an RFP to study the potential development of Seaport City, a storm resiliency project intended to protect Lower Manhattan from coastal floodng. It would be part of a 1.5-mile levee stretching from the Battery to just north of the Manhattan Bridge.
"Battery Park City helped shield part of Lower Manhattan during Hurricane Sandy, and Seaport City can provide similar protection, while also expanding opportunities for new economic development," Bloomberg said Wednesday. Responses to the RFP, which was issued by the New York City Economic Development Corp., are due August 22.
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Rayna Katz
Rayna Katz is a seasoned business journalist whose extensive experience includes coverage of the lodging sector, travel and the culinary space. She was most recently content director for a business-to-business publisher, overseeing four publications. While at Meeting News, a travel trade publication, she received a Best Reporting award for a story on meeting cancellations in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.
